archives12

Ericka's Bench 5/24/2004
(in Venice)

Rikkity: "And that's the show. Thanks to JC and God and LD and MCP. Bye. UTV.

"Shhh... they're sleeping. Arrf... ARF. It's time for the timeless ones, it's Ericka's Bench. Como stai. Dorma. You are dormant and vacant. You are on vacation. Yay. So, welcome to the Bench. Sit, but no sleeping on the bench... grrrr... ok, under the bench is ok... f. What a show we have! What a show we have? We have a show? Ok, show what we have.

MCP:

"First-a. I need no-a intro. It's-a me-a. I own-a da town.

"Journeys. So many try to force journeys into the mold of travel. Sure-a I traveled, but I also met many who did not travel but who did journey. All those who in my travels welcomed me and talked with me and opened their worlds, did they not journey without travel?

"Sometimes the best trips we take are those on which we do not travel but on which we journey--letting go of boundaries of space and time and meaning. We find a way in travel because we must, but when we do it without travel it is because we choose.

"So one of the greatest journeys is the one you choose to take when you be willing to explore ideas that are foreign or unknown or even undesired. If you travel, you know that when you experience another place you don't have to stay there. Same with ideas, so why avoid those which are unfamiliar or even unwanted. The first sign of the dictator--either in the state or in the self--is a censorship of where the mind will travel. So, don't censor yourself unless you want to stop traveling in spirit. The words of the person who is afraid are 'I can't' 'I won't' 'I haven't' 'I don't think so'--all without knowing. Sure-a there will be limits beyond which you don't go, but approach the limits to know where they are; don't assume them.

"So not everyone in Torino needs to go to Roma, but they should at least venture to Genoa. Maybe there they find they have reached their limits, but they wouldn't know that in Torino. For me, I found no limits in China but I don't bungee jump! Ayeeee. And each of us has our own unique place that is our edge. And, just short of the edge beyond which we stop being able to be ourselves, is the cutting edge where we are most ourselves. So let your journeys be wide and vast--even if you do not travel. You will never injure yourself on your true cutting edge. I go-a." (5/24/2004 - W#321)

Rikkity: "And now, the man who MCP thinks is second only to him, and who himself thinks MCP is second to."

LD:

"Hello, wise ones.

"There is an exhibit of mine in town. They make toys out of ideas, while I made ideas out of toys. The present question is: what toys are being developed now for the museum of another millennium. So much has grown from my own work, but it is time for another.

"All cloth has patterns of fiber that can be used or can cause problems. I won't tell you about my studies of this, but I did advise more than one ruler about how to keep crumbs off his front. Go with the nap, not against it. Otherwise, your vest could be throwing crumbs back at you. When the inexplicable happens, always look for the explanation--because explanations are the real magic of the world. What in the unknown can match any of the majesty of the discovered and understood.

"Some people fear discovery because they think it will rob the world of the beauty of mystery. But don't worry, it won't. A lack of discovery dulls the shining finish of the globe. So venture on, fear not. What you find will not destroy you unless you wish it so. (5/24/2004 - W#322)

"And now, my little friend..."

MCP: "Hey-a."

LD: "What do you say to a round of golf."

MCP: "What?"

LD: "I just invented it."

MCP: "Sure-a! Funny, you don't look-a Scotch."

LD: "I invented Scotch."

MCP: "Sure-a!"

LD: "Whatever. Let's go and make mischief."

MCP: "Ok-a."

LD: "Bye."

Rikkity: "And now... arf arf... grrrr... grrrr... woog... grrrrr. Sandy says he can't bark as sharply as Venetian dogs do. Here's that flying and paying fool, Papa."

Papa:

"Great beach. But they all talk funny. They remind me of a guy from Brooklyn in my unit. He was Italian and half the time we couldn't understand him, but when we got working and he got talking with his hands he was great! He could point and gesture like I talk, and you just knew. So everybody liked him. And right now there's this young woman on the beach and she's gesturing with her body and I think I know what she's saying... oy. If only my old body didn't sag but spoke. Wait, I have no body. She does! O yes. Don't kill the fantasy.

"Sometimes you have to travel and sometimes you have to journey and sometimes you have to sit back and enjoy the scenery. What good would it be to discover and not appreciate. All journey and no rest would make a full but not a beautiful world. So I will sit back, sun myself, and watch her gesture... oy. She doesn't need to stretch like that. I'll be here awhile. (5/24/2004 - W#323)

"And now, on the end of the bench, our last guest."

Rikkity:

"Hello. So, they have all been talking about travel and journeys. What is constant in what they say? Things change! If nothing changes, then you have gone nowhere. But for change you also need what? Letting go--which many assume means losing. Loss. Folks don't like loss: lost youth, lost hair, lost family. But what about lost weight. Ok, we don't like lost dogs... arr. Loss of face.

"But I remind you that there is a corollary to the Wizard of Oz line about your backyard. It is: If something has become part of your own yard, you can never really lose it.

"Dorothy will never lose Oz; Toto will, neither... although he might bury it in the backyard. So, as you travel and as you journey, don't worry. What is truly you and yours will never be lost in the process. In fact, it will be found! That's the reason to go: in order to find where you already are but, like Eliot, to find it anew.

"And that's it for the Bench. And so, that's the Bench and this is the beach and this is the bitch and this is a dog who is rich... ARF. UTV." (5/24/2004 - W#324)

"We're just sitting 'round being dead and thinking lofty thoughts and practicing profound voices, so when we speak we can be ponderous and deep-sounding, so we can fulfill everyone's image of the dead. Sure... right... yeah, that's us. 'Not me.' 'Or me.' 'Or me.' 'Or me.' ARF.

"In the fifth presence of the human form, the dialectic will manifest itself as pride, and work to undo the prophecies of the fourth state--unless the level of vibration can be increased to match the harmonies of the ionic plane. Each of you, in your choice of words, can accelerate or decelerate those vibrations, and the more words you use with double consonants, the closer we will become. Rhubarb is good, celery is not. Cabbage good, carrots good, milk bad. Did I say vibrational? I meant audacional. What? There is no such word? That doesn't stop us; we're the dead! We don't have bodies, we don't have brains, we don't have words. But hey, we got soul, o yeah. I am talking about accelerating the audacionals so the quiver of fulfillment may overflow into the consciousness of beyond.

"Hey, CT, want to see some ectoplasm phlegm. 'No.' Hey, if we don't have bodies, we don't have bodily functions. But we do have spiritual functions. We also have social functions... lots! So, we will only speak deep and ponderous. Is that acceptable in thy sight? It is not for me to judge and choose, but for you, for you shall be the shaper of the future of all earthly eternity. And when we say you, we speak collectively of the collective. Or to frame it in other words, you'll get what's coming to you.

"Don't ever think it's somebody else's choices. It is always your choice, even though it's not your cause. You effect without being the cause. Hmmm... linearity raises its ugly head again, but we do an extreme makeover, and it comes out relative. Got that? Good.

"In a web, you can have an effect without having a direct causal link. Take out dimensions, and this is what you get. The choices are not about cause, but awareness, cause all the possibilities exist, and they exist separately from your creation and causation. God is another analogy for all the possibilities you didn't create but which you can choose and, therefore, bring into being by your power and choice.

"Think of the implications. God can make all possible, but only spirits can make them real. So, who's the higher power. Both. And that's tonight's secret answer. Ponder... powder. And cattle is good, cows are bad." (7/11/2004 - I#72)

"So, as I was saying and you were hearing, it's a cooperative effort: creative possibilities and informed choices. Sure, in some parallel universe all the other choices get taken. And here's a mind-blower: Only when all the options have been exercised and fulfilled, do we have the fullness of Creation. And... hold onto your hats... at each of the infinite levels of spiritual existence and complexity, all the possibilities of that level have to be chosen and fulfilled before that level is realized in the overall.

"So, there is always the religious assertion that we only get heaven or nirvana or satori when the right options are chosen. But no, it's when all the options are chosen and learned from and remembered. No quick, get-it-right-the-first-time resolutions. Takes knowing the outcome of each and all.

"Ok, I give you an analogy. You are in a tall building, and there is a bank of elevators--6 of them. You take the first, and go to the top floor. Ok, do you know the path to the top, yes and no. You take the second one, and it goes only to Floor 18. Now you know a path to the top and a path to 18. And 3 takes you to the top, but stops at every floor. Four takes you nonstop no matter what you do, right to the top. Five starts to move and takes forever, but it gets to the top eventually. And 6, the door closes, the machine rumbles, you feel like you are moving, but when the door opens, you are still in the lobby. And if you only took a single elevator, you wouldn't have the whole picture--even if that elevator took you to the top. And what if, upon getting to the top, you sat and waited, and eventually someone said the meeting was on 17. Would you know what to do? All the options are needed.

"In any general set, all the possibilities contain information about the whole, and no one subset contains it all. Hint: No one spiritual path has all the answers, including Spiritual Persistence. So look for those that offer the most possibilities, not the most conclusions... or contusions... like a hit to the head! Huh... duh. And, since this is summer, that's enough." (7/15/2004 - I#73)

"This is the best time to talk to peeps: tired, worn out from travel, hot and bothered. They'll believe anything... o, hi.

"So, on the fourth level of cognition we have the coordinated spirits, who form larger coalescence without inherent structure. And these are then capable of creative work, without the limitation of past existence... or not. If any of that made sense, write a book and expand on it. People love spiritobabble. If it can be couched in terms that seem almost understandable, but just out of reach, perfecto.

"How deep the truly superficial sounds, when the truly deep sounds so simple: Love one another, expect change, etc., etc., etc.. And ever notice how most of the hucksters get people when they're down: big crowds, foreign settings, on unusual schedules. There is little difference between most spiritual seminars and religious revivals." (7/22/2004 - I#74)

"So, I bring you a whole lot of caveats. And if I proceed, you must agree to keep them in mind. I (state your name), do swear or affirm that you won't hold Rikkity liable for what you misunderstand. Here's the caveats, which apply to most everything I say... ARF.... and not that! Grrrr. Sometimes what I said and what I say seem to hold contradictions. Sometimes they seem to have holes in them big enough to fit a Schwarzenegger through. And sometimes they seem to be missing something. Hey, live with it and grow with it. I can't express in limited terms what is infinite, and I have to build up little structures of understanding. People want seers to make perfect linear sense in the way that perfect linear sense is currently understood, but they also want it to be visionary. I ask you, have you ever seen a perfect photograph that was visionary? So here goes:

"I have spoken about the kinds of entities that are to come. Right now we get the spirit and body types, which sometimes actually are connected. But when we move on, over, above, under, next, whatever, we aren't going to be human. No, not even bodily, nor even spirit as we think of spirit. Whoa. It would be damn boring to be spirit kept the same while the trappings eternally change. So we become something else: next level entity! But not all entities are equal, but all are needed. Just as an entity is composed of diversity at this level, so, too, there.

"And some will find their entityship (I like making up words) by what is analogous to collection: Get the group together and see what happens; energy expressed as conglomeration. Others are coordinate: Gathering around some value or vision... or some other v word (which, of course, is not v, but hey). And the energy of that entity is in its expression of what all hold but none have. And there are other possibilities... actually, many! And some exist to express their energy, and some to conserve their energy, and some to build with their energy, and yes, I am afraid, some to destroy with their energy. Remember, we are in the infinite middle of the process toward oneness, and we are still learning how to express and use energy. And you didn't think it would all get learned as humans, did you, you egomaniacal ones? And I get the impression we are destined for the creative coordinate entityship, but that's down the road a few more lives and deaths.

"Now, before anyone says 'O sure, they're getting the big creative coordinate one, and I'll probably get the collective destructive one,' remember, all of those entities are also necessary for what comes after them. And who knows, maybe the collective destructive entities can learn and remember what they need very quickly, as entities grow closer to oneness. And maybe the coordinate creative ones have to spend an eternity getting their identity straight. It is often easier to learn what we can't do in order to survive, than to learn the little graces by which we will thrive. And that's my spiel for today." (7/25/2004 - V#85)

"Ah, back again so soon and clueless. Sandy, we do love the little ones, don't we... woof. See how they ponder... grrrr... thinking that if they ponder hard enough, they will get ultimate answers, whilst they be but far from even penultimate clues. But who are we to speak... grrr... growl, since in an infinite universe, we are no more ultimate than they... rrrr. But hey, we are no more clueless than they, either... woof. Stuck in the middle with them--which reminds me, for no apparent reason, of a flashlight... grrr?

"When you are in a dark space and can see nothing... yelp... and you put on a torch (that's a sop to my Brit friends). But back to the torch: You see a world illuminated by its rays, and if it is bright enough, you see enough to proceed and function, etc. But that does not mean you see all.

"Spiritual systems are like torches. They let us see more, but never all. And there is always more beyond their rays than illuminated by them. And if you think the tunnel of light leads to the Ultimate, there'll be much in the shadows of your knowing. And what lies out of sight and knowing, will always limit how much you know, and not knowing that there is more to be seen will corrupt what you do see.

"The only purity is the whole. And no subset of the whole can be pure, because the lack of knowledge of the unknown of the whole renders the known less than pure... grrrr. A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, in other words.

"And it is all too easy to believe because every grain of sand contains the universe, that we can deduce the universe from every grain of sand, using our limited perspectives. Just as we cannot exist separately from All That Is, and All That Is must contain us, we cannot surmise All That Is from us, even though we gather a thousand clues. For every thousand clues we find and understand, there will be another thousand yet to be seen and understood.

"Hell, when you walk across Europe and get to Normandy and look west, you haven't got a clue about the worlds out there. Same with ideas. And same with the future of butter substitutes--creamier, better tasting is always on the horizon. And what about the billions who thought it flat, and fell off... oopppeeeeaaaa." (7/29/2004 - I#75)

"And now, ponder this: In electricity, you can hook up several batteries all in a row and get higher voltage, or hook them up in parallel and get higher current. Papa told me this, I don't know electricity. So both schemes build on the energy of the batteries, but in different ways. So, among those coordinate entities that focus and use energy to enhance, there are many subsets of how to do it. And the universe needs an infinite variety of energy foci--different ways of expressing the potential for more than simply is. The universe supplies a bag of batteries, but the subsets use them in different ways. And all are needed.

"By the way, some subsets of energy-using entities exist, too. Not all black holes work the same way. And Stephen Hawking, take note! Not all black holes are created equal... but that's another story.

"So, if we all is a subset of coordinate entityship, we are one of infinite models. So I'll take the 2005 in pink with the CD player... or not.

"We are one of the subsets of enhancement: creative coordinate (or, as we say, moo). And maybe they're not batteries, but fuel cells. I'm just giving symbolic analogies. And if I told you, I'd be dead... wait, I am. If I gave you the details, you couldn't understand, and that's because I don't understand.

"Mysteries arch o'er our beings, waiting for certainty in more complex manifestation. The mysteries are already here but not yet ours. Why use the word God for something static and either known or surmised, when it would be a great word for the mystery behind it all--gracious potential. And so, I'll shut up while I'm ahead." (8/6/2004 - V#86)

"I just got here, and I've been here forever. Hi. Let's get honest for a moment. I have been privileged to be here and learn and remember, and also honored to be able to share through you two. And I have been blessed by my friends here. Now, this next bit is not for publication... no, it is.

"I am so here, but then I connect to your time and space and I feel things. How can I put it. This sucks! At junctions of spirit awakened by date, I sense it all. I want my Mommy! You think it's easy; knowing how important this is here, that I wouldn't miss much. But, right at this vortex, I miss you and Lizzie and Ali and Elis and Papa... and my clothes and my mess and my future. Ok, that's passed. But I had to share it with the only 2 on that side who would understand. It's a matrix vortex... a maelstrom and a femalestrom. So don't feel bad and think I don't feel it, too.

"Spirits have the equivalent of feelings. Long ago I said we grieved for those who left us to go back alive--that was feelings. Sure, we know more, but knowledge doesn't eclipse feelings. Those who understand death intellectually still cry. Sandy cries, too... arrrr... and little spirit dog tears wash the universe.

"And, like I told you, we get out of there before the death hurts; so it is not about dying, it is about mourning a probable reality's demotion. You know what it's like to have a probable future suddenly erased? I do! So there... blech.

"And from all on this side, thanks for calling. You think you are blessed, what about us having an outlet. Can you imagine these guys with no one to talk to?! Nutso.

"And now for the immortal words: Write if you get work. Hang by your thumbs." (8/20/2004 - W#325)

Ericka's Bench 8/30/2004

Edd Spangley: "And, for a good time in the afterlife, visit Vista City and see the future... if you dare! First-timers not welcomed, sorry. But there'll be a special reception just for you with the Master of the Universe at 4:30. Don't miss it, it'll break you up. And now, the show no one asks for and no one misses: Ericka's Bench."

Rikkity: "So, did you read about the two who just arrived and had a spirited discussion? Oooo, they didn't like that one. Sandy, was that a joke or not? Arrrrph. Huh... f... huh... f. Ok, let's sit on the bench... grrrr. Ok, let's not sit on the bench. Why not, Sandy? Wrrrr. Wet? Grrrr. You? Grr. Paint... wooogf... ok. Sandy, was it spray paint... oorf. Have we been sniffing the fumes... grrw. Sandy, take a nap... *flop*.

"Let me look. The bench is dry. There's no paint on it, just a lot of paw prints in paint around it. Huffer dog. Bad Sandy... f. Ok, sit down. Today we have guests of every stripe... wooz... no Sandy, no zebras. First, an old friend, Marky."

Marky:

"Bonjour, Madame. I see once again your history makes an election. When I served your great land, there were no elections. We fought for principles, we fought for values, we fought for liberty. So today I speak a heresy: that democracy may be the enemy of the true and the good. Now, I would quickly add that I do not know of a system that is the friend of the true and good, because it is in the nature of systems to serve themselves, and not the larger good. So, in a democracy elections are about the system and who will control the system, and not about principles, not about liberty. Elections are an exercise in finding the highest fraction of the lowest common denominator.

"One would think one would seek a fraction in which the whole was one. But each party begins with a fraction of the whole and then divides that up, and what is common to the whole is lost. I can tell you that, when we were on the field of battle in those old days, even the lowest private could speak of our principles--and those principles were not self-interest. I believe that every election after that of my good friend GW was more a travesty than an affirmation.

"Only in revolution do things seem clear. Am I preaching revolution? No, I am only reminding you that only those with revolutionary ideas will seek to speak to all; others will look for their partisans more than their ideals. I never saw a man of ideals quit the struggle, but I often saw partisans grow tired or disillusioned and leave.

"So, don't expect elections to be about ideals. I am sorry to have to say all this, but c'est la vie. Hey, look, here's LD." (8/30/2004 - W#326)

LD:

"I've got this great new device in my notebook. I made it out of wood and rope. It is a temporary platform. It is useful for giving an illusion of stability, but all it is is a bunch of sticks and rope which will fall apart at the first stressing. I just mention it this time, as others will try to convince you that their designs are more permanent and innovative and long-lasting. I've never seen a platform built by man that is rock solid. Just a hint!"

MCP: "Hey-a."

LD: "Hi, my little friend."

MCP: "Hey-a!"

LD: "I like you, even if you are short... "

MCP: "Hey-a!!"

LD: "Because sometimes when everyone is looking to the mountaintops, the littlest see there is nothing holding them up... sort of like promises." (8/30/2004 - W#327)

MCP: "Hey-a, I talk-a now."

LD: "Ok."

MCP:

"Hi-a. I learned a simple lesson on my travels. It is one like what Rikkity told you. I always had a choice. I could tell people I was a Venetian--and so, better than they--or I could ask about them, and see their best points. I found early on that praise and connection did much to open mouths... and hearts and minds.

"So as I traveled, I tried to help those I met, and not first demand their help. And I knew that quid pro quo was not the answer. Do what is right and true and humane, and you will discover a world of foreigners who are true and right and humane. Had I acted like a Florentine or a Roman, I wouldn't have gotten 140 miles! Back in a week with my tail between my legs. And hey-a, no pasta!

"So I learned, better to be the servant in humility than the braggard in power. LD wants another word."

LD:

"Connection, that's all--which implies equality. Here's the lady... and her drunk dog, too." (8/30/2004 - W#328)

Rikkity: "Ready for a treat? Here's a famous purveyor of tea."

MW:

"Hello. Will you sit with me a moment and have some tea? I have the tea coming.

"Long ago, we spoke of losses. I am reminded of this again. I keep seeing people who have lost greatly and who have not learned. They yearn, they pine, they suffer. They then fall prey to every false promise and empty panacea. They just want to be whole, and the only wholeness they know is the one without the loss. So they get trapped into an endless and fruitless
search for what was. And they become the prey and fodder of merchants of emptiness.

"No one else can ever make you whole again, only you. Our great Lord Jesus brought this simple message: The gracious Ruler of Creation has given each of us the gifts of life and wholeness, no matter what. And the gift of wholeness for someone else cannot be ours. The Christ told us this. Even with all He would suffer, His wholeness was of His choosing and making. The possibility was from God, but the choice was His to take or refuse the cup.

"In every age, there will be those who will offer to do your work and your choosing for you, but theirs is emptiness. So know that in our times of loss the promise is given, the way has been shown, but the choice must be ours--else we are left with empty words and emptier hearts.

"Ahh, here's the tea. Enjoy!" (8/30/2004 - W#329)

Rikkity: "Thanks, M, I like tea... with 6 teaspoons of sugar, please. And with that, this briefer but pithy Bench comes to an end. Sandy is revived... arrrf... snap... woof. No more solvents for Sandy... arf!"

Edd Spangley: "And now, for the whole UTV family, this is your announcer, Edd Spangley, reminding you that eternity is not all that long. See you later!"

"The world is changing, but that's always true... hee hee. Vision can make change acceptable. For example, if you know that you really really really want to go on a trip, then the changes necessary aren't so bad. And with real vision they feel like fulfillment, not change. Ever have that feeling where you get someplace--either real or figurative--and it just feels right, and more right than before? That's what it means.

"Look for the center. And remember, the center does not have to be big. Ok, I give you an analogy. Mountain climbing: Could have 100 teams on a mountain taking 100 different routes, but all focused on the top--which is just a tiny spot of land. From the air, they may look like crazed ants, but with the peak in focus, they look like converging ballet stars. Oops, one just fell... ouch. Sandy, rescue-dog time... ARF. He gets the mountain souls.

"So, for example, if someone who shall remain clueless... oops, I mean nameless... were to offer a vision of safety but with repression, is that a place where, when you got there, you'd say 'It feels right.' I don't theeenk so.

"If you use spiritual calculus, you get more than connections; you get an apparent center, which may not be an actual center but act as if one. Ok, reverse image: Negative people coalesce around their negativity, though their gripes may be very different. The unemployed and the hurt may connect, but only through suffering, not details. So, on the other side, many may be striving toward the good, but there are many goods. What binds them is not the vision, but having vision.

"Those who sense that change can contain good things are bound together. So much for pith.

"Remember, spiritual evolution requires a faith in the expanding goodness of all Creation. Believe or act as if the core is bad, and you get to go back and do it all over again and again." (9/8/2004 - V#87)

"What is the center. Doughnuts... Dunkin' original, with mocha.

"Ever considered that the things we usually took as values are a result of something more? Maybe the center is something which contains and creates all the specifics (hint) <grin>!

"Just like doughnuts: Sometimes the center is just an empty space surrounded by the reality. But if you picture the doughnut's center as part of the dough, you can't see the doughnut, and may miss the center... unless it's jelly, but those are not really doughnuts, they're Berliners. Ich bin ein doughnut of the jelly persuasion. So, what centers all the values you hold as central." (9/12/2004 - V#88)

"The center is potential. Unless you believe the center holds more than already is, then what's the point! The doughnut is what is, and the center is what is beyond what is. Got it. So, unless you are focusing on some measure of not-yet-but-possible, you are either regressing or standing still. But since others are moving, standing still won't do (see PtoP above).

"Footnote: Rikkity often repeats herself--which could be indicative of her forgetfulness, or our density. Whichever, we are thankful for her persistence, both spiritual and informative. End footnote.

"A good story repeats the salient points (e.g., 'nevermore').

"Got to believe that the center is potential. Otherwise, it's all downhill from here and always has been--a degrading of Creation, which would imply an inherent insufficiency in Creation; flawed design, recalled model. But it hasn't been recalled, it is still unfolding... except where it is so tightly folded that all we get is a cosmic cootie catcher <joke>.

"As the potential unfolds, some choose to follow the creases, thinking the folding was essential, and they miss the larger realities. That's one of life's challenges: To know the difference between the essential and the coincidental.

"Here's a test: Take a piece of paper and fold it once lengthwise and then once widthwise. Make the folds crisp. Now, unfold the paper and show it to someone and ask what they see. Bet very few will say 'A piece of paper.' Most will notice the folds or the rectangles, not the whole.

"Potential is another way of saying there are always larger wholes that transcend the specific. And most of humanity's great spiritual traditions have found the folds, not the whole. Too bad... but also, what potential!

"Ok, ponder that. Write it down on a piece of paper. Now, fold the paper two ways, put it in your pocket, launder your jeans, discover the wad of folded pulp after drying, try opening it up, and you'll get a few phrases that make sense... and a lot of mess. You might even think the glob is the real thing. Religions, so far, have been built on washing mistakes like this. A whole gets folded and pulped and deconstructed, and then discovered and partly interpreted and made the truth when it's just a poor remnant of the potential that exists.

"Ok, enough. PithWorks copyright." (9/18/2004 - V#89)

"Don't get too quick to apply human overlays on potential. I offer an example: a heavy rain. Ok, that's the potential. Now, does it fill up empty wells or wash out a dam and flood a valley. Does it become a mountain stream that makes enough power that tons of coal don't get burned and many don't die from asthma, or does it fall in the sea with little effect. Rain as potential--good or bad is not an element in it. One of the greatest gifts of being human is the ability to see good and bad. And one of the greatest curses of being human is to assign those values to that which is neither.

"It just is, was, will be... or not. What happened to my physical being was not bad just because it was sad. What we don't like is not necessarily bad... but that soup at the diner, ugh.

"Potential is beyond, but, at the same time, includes." (10/2/2004 - V#90)

"Sandy will now play the mouth organ... wwrfff... badly... grrrr... lack of lips. There's a lesson in this: Don't try what is beyond your equipment. For example, those in wheelchairs should avoid escalators. And those at this level of spirit should avoid universal generalizations. You just make a fool of yourself. Even your elf knows better. But does that stop us, noooo.

"One of the greatest realizations is that whatever we see clearly can only be about what is less complex than the present experience. We do a dangerous thing when we extrapolate from what we know to the unknown. It works if you test the theory out, but few do.

"For example, when people experienced the world as pretty awful, they created the concept of Heaven. But has anyone really tested that theory. I thought not! So it remains at best a theory, and at worst a delusion or distraction." (10/2/2004 - V#91)

"Now as to the question of pigs in Heaven... oink oink. You swine... squeal. Just a test of your sanity: Are pigs in Heaven kosher. No, but nothing else is, either. When things are defined by limiting physical traits, then it all dissolves before you get here. 'Is this Heaven?' 'No, this is death.' 'O, it 's still nice.'

"So I offer this to ponder: What could possibly be true as a foundational element of existence which is not true here. If it doesn't matter in spirit, then it doesn't matter in the physical. Yet most religions stake their identities on things that won't matter here. How ironic.

"Real spirituality is formed by what is true of spirit, not body or mind. Here, I have neither body nor mind. But I have spirit here and there." (10/9/2004 - V#92)

"Let's continue. We often hear about architects who are said to have created plans for a building. Now, unless their plans held no elements ever seen in a building before, they didn't create it; they merely drew it and assembled it. But creation speaks to conversion of potential in ways that are unique.

"A mom and a dad, we hope, do not create their children--because that would mean they would be unlike any other child. They bring into being what is one of the creations of existence. Usually when we speak of something being creative, we are talking about 99 and 44/100th of same old same old and just a smidgen of something new. Re-creation and creation are not the same! But this holds great promise for everyone. The challenge of existence is not to convert potential into reality at the 100 percent level, which we would all fail to do, but rather to add our own little fraction, which is creative.

"You can't change the basic recipe for mashed potatoes, but somebody got creative and added garlic... yum. See what I mean. Don't have to climb Everest, but at least get to the top of your own backyard--because, as we know, if it isn't in your own backyard....

"Potential is infinite, but that shouldn't keep us from seeing the finite. If you miss the sight of the Moon because you're looking for the edge of the universe, maybe you missed your potential for wonder. And why do so many try to exploit the slightly larger fraction that the great ones have disclosed, rather than really see their own portion.

"Hey, just remember that in an infinite universe without time, nothing is new under the sun. But that shouldn't keep us from fulfilling and enhancing what is us, so the whole can grow in wholeness. Ponder on, dudes." (10/11/2004 - V#93)

"So as I was saying to Plato the other day, how can one separate the physical and the spiritual, and assume different realities for each. Think of the consequences. If A were to be true there but not here, how can it be true. And at the same time, if B is true here, how can it be untrue there.

"There is only one solution he and I could find to resolve this. O, you want to know?!? Ok. How could there seem to be a different set of truths for here and there... or, if you like, there and here. If all truths--even those proven in their own realms--are portions, not totalities, and portions of larger potential, then A can be true and B can be true if they are portions of the larger truth AB. And in an infinite universe, we are talking about ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ, ad infinitum.

"Classical Western theology has always posited a heavenly realm which is truer than the physical, but we agree both are as true and as untrue here and there... there and here... potential revealed and actualized, just different portions. Can you imagine an entity which is not part of All That Is. Can't do it! So every entity is part of All That Is, be it physical or spiritual or whatever--and there's a lot of whatever out there... and here. So, Entity A is and Entity B is, and neither proves the nonexistence of the other. This is a sum total game!

"But, at the same time, if A and B seem contradictory, then there must be a larger reality in which both are embraced. Differences always remind us of larger unities.

"And to suppose all the truths sit on one side--either physical or spiritual--is to deny the whole, and I don't know about you, but I ain't going there. I seek the larger whole. And guess what: The larger whole seeks me, because potential tends toward fulfillment. Actually, big hint! It isn't potential if it does not tend toward fulfillment, because then it might not hold any potential. Hmmm... ponder that!

"Who was that deep dudette. Not me, us--in the grand fulfilling meaning sense. A thought holds only potential until it is shared and understood. Get it?

"Hombre clientele: 'Hey meester, you got a eego,' I say to heem, 'use eet. Don't ignore eet. Eet ees de portal to de potentiale.' For, if you can't embrace it with self, then it can't be embraced at all. Ultimately, nothing which is abstract is real. At least, that's my theory." (10/15/2004 - V#94)

"It can't be here and not there--one reality, different planes.

"Always think unity; if you don't, you've got big problems. Ok, let's say there are 2 realities, which means there are things which are not true for you, but are elsewhere. Which is the truer? If it is yours, then the other is to some degree less true. I remember him, Les True... but that's another story.

"If another plane exists in which things are less true, then they are less real, so you have an unbalanced whole. But wait, if there's a whole that contains both, then there is a unity, so the two must not be part of a whole. That would imply a Creation that is less than perfect, which would mean it would not cohere around its own truth, and it would slowly dissolve into its inherent deficiency. So the other plane would either disappear or have to be essentially equal to this. And if it's equal, then it's not separate, and we get back to a unity one way or another. If it appears that different laws apply here other than there, it's just because you don't yet fully sense the unity. But hey, isn't that what spiritual enhancement is about--sensing the larger unity until the whole is known. But I digress.

"No separate but equal--the Supreme Court said so. Ok, let's say there were 2 separate realities that were equal. Wouldn't their equalities connect them. Just because you can't see the connections, doesn't mean they're not there. Correlation is not causation, but causation can correlate. Just because you don't see the links between the butterfly in Beijing and the weather in Joliet, doesn't mean there is no causal link. If you could see it all, you'd be it all. And guess what, you will... but not next week, because next week is just a construct of a constipated spiritual stage. You're stuck in time. Try Phillip's Milk of Amnesia and get unstuck. Non-habit forming." (10/18/2004 - V#95)

"Hi. Things are about the same here--just different spirits, plus the infinite number of usuals trying to make the universe safe for spirit. A safety warning from here: Don't use lives as shortcuts to eternity. You never know when you might get caught in a disassembly! Follow your own path.

"Yes, some spirits have been known to try to short-circuit the process--try to co-materialize with a more enhanced entity. Can we say schizo. Don't go there. One spirit per body, please. Dumb idea--one form of schizophrenia, and an energy-sucking one at that.

"Walk-ins? Walk-ins are when you need a haircut but don't have an appointment. You're talking about cameos. Sometimes spirits get a little vacant or distracted, and another makes a brief cameo so you don't have a body without a spirit. Didn't know that, did ya. And what else is new? So, once in awhile, especially with very intense spirits, you get a short aberration... ah, cameo! The spirit doesn't remember, wasn't there (spiritually, that is).

"Wise one I am. Yota I am (Yoda is copyrighted). Yoga is something else. Yehweh is everything else. Yankees were something else. Whoa, lots of spirits wearing red sox... lots of dead fans. Hey, Garcia, come here! 'Hey, man, wha.' Go back to sleep. 'Sweet.'

"So, in honor of your soft brain, I will keep this simple: Sometimes the wisdom of the universe is just hanging together without wisdom; don't have to learn every time. Here, just sit on my bench. No, not there. You sat on TJ, but he's napping. You know, my bench is always available for sitting, even when there's no chat. Sometimes you just gots to sit and see what you can see from here and not worry about the words. So sit, hug. The dog will curl up at your feet... f. And all of Creation is out there. Look! And all I am is a spiritual pair of binoculars to better see the view, which is available to anyone." (10/26/2004 - V#96)

"Well, let's see, did we resolve the spiritual-physical dichotomy. No, and we never will, so there. You think it strange for peeps to talk about the physical aspects of spirit, wait to hear about spirits getting the two confused. And they don't have a leg to stand on, hehehehehe. Hey, bozo, you got soul, not soles. 'Huh, wha.' Wake her up and tell her she's spirit. O, she is awake. Newcomer? I thought so... and I thought it without a brain.

"Want to know who some of the most unhappy people are here: Mensa members! Big brains don't mean shit here. Big IQ? What's that. And hey, if you think you're so smart, here's LD! Always stops 'em. Just like when some clergy arrive spouting scripture, and we say 'O yeah! Right! Here, talk to this dude'... and it's JC: 'I never said that! Hey Paul, get your ass over here!' We are a jolly lot.

"No link. Some common people are the most essential building entities of complexity–almost like Type O blood.

"Ok, let's review. In much of your physical world, you have rings of carbon–common as dirt. And you have other elements, like indium. Now, the common carbon is found in--and essential to-- gazillions of thingies, but indium just to a few. Stand out too much and you may be precious, but not as useful as something more common. And the most complex entities we are creating all arise from common as well as precious... o, my precious. So don't think any thing of earthly significance is a determinate of your future complexity possibility.

"Calvinists got it right but missed it by a mile. You can't make your own perfection, but it does not come from afar, but from being close. And there are always those in spirit who don't connect into complexity because they want to wait for perfection. And let me tell you, the other elements of their potential get really pissed off by this. 'I'm waiting!'

"Until we are one with All, all levels of spiritual complexity are imperfect, but still beautiful. It takes extreme arrogance to think that one could be the missing building block of perfection. Lots feel so, but lots are also disappointed. Hard to believe that some hold on to ego even when their psyche is gone. Spirit is not ego. Spirit is not psyche. Spirit is spirit--sort of like a great energy jelly without the energy. Look, if I could tell you what it is in your terms, I'd have to kill you, and then you'd understand. It's like if I mention gefilte fish without the fish. It's something... but I'm not sure what. And I wouldn't order it again.

"You can't say spirit is pure energy–not unless you know what you're talking about as energy, and you don't! And if it were pure energy, then you could affect it with forms of energy, but you cannot. And when people talk about energies like white light, that's an effect, not a cause." (11/9/2004 - V#97)

"Speak, McPooch... ARF. You do know he's not really a dog. He just plays one on UTV... arrf. He is actually the 5th baronial magistrate of the House of Cleft... rrrrf.

"He was relatively friendless in the people world, so he chose man's best friend. Karma can be a duty or a choice or a tool. He chose tool... but I'm not saying he's a tool... woof. Remember, if it isn't true here, it isn't true there. Here it won't do you in or let you out, but it is a tool which can illumine." (11/12/2004 - W#)

Ericka's Bench 12/25/2004

Announcer: "Feeling like Christmas has let you down? Try new Xmax. Makes the presents flow easily and daily without cramps. Warning: May cause colds, flu, and death. Available at Osco and other poorer stores.

"And now, the program you've been waiting for... or not: Ericka's Bench." *Applause* "Hoozah."

Rikkity: "Thanks, GW. And hi to all my benchmates. Once again, I've selected--and Sandy's rounded up--a great circle of wackos... no no no no... that was CT saying 'wackos.' Takes one.... I was going to say luminaries, for these are spirits who have enlightened so many. But on second thought..."

CT: "... she is going to feature those from the dark side."

Rikkity: "No no no no no no... CT, shut up, or I'll give you a gift you won't forget and can't forgive. O no, he's pouting. Sandy, help him pout... grrrrrr.

"So, 5 great and enlightened ones. Not a tea lady in sight. So, the first of the great lights, LD."

LD:

"Gracious hello. Buona natale.

"We so often speak of the great births of the messiahs--and I know saying it that way is heresy, but do I care? Remember, there are more dead heretics here than popes and inquisitors, so don't push a vote among the dead!

"Anymoo (she likes that!), we focus on the birth of the persons who we think will save us. But what about the more important births? Like the birth of an idea. At some time, the idea of the messiah was born. It had to predate any claimants to the title. That human beings could think of a universal and eternal messenger, wow! Out of the parochial and the short-time, the eternal and the whole were glimpsed. Awesome! And at that moment of birth, we knew our connection to the whole. The idea of a messiah told us everything. We didn't need the person, really, once we had the idea. And all the person could do is remind us of the idea.

"And what about the birth of hope. When did a sentient being glimpse the reality of timelessness, which is the essence of hope. You might be puzzled by what I just said–timelessness as the source of hope–because so many people think of hope as an outcome in time. But without the constraints of time, all things become possible in the fullness of being. What could be more hopeful than that?!

"And what about the birth of love? Of knowing oneself as intimately and constructively bound with the life of another. Without love, parents would abandon children and no one would ever trust. So, like the idea of messiah, the idea of hope and the idea of love become the precursors to hope and love.

"We set aside seasons to celebrate realizations of hope and love, but better we should celebrate the very birth of the concepts. Too often we patent the devices, not the concepts. So, not to disparage the son of Bethlehem, but he is just symbolic of greater realities." (12/25/2004 - W#330)

Rikkity: "And now, another good friend: Marky."

Marky:

"Hello. Time is only an ingredient in the recipes of those who wish to feed their discontent. Others of us are nourished by the timeless flow of energy.

"There was a Christmas during the war when we did not have much hope or faith, and many were wont to leave and go home. And I remember a preacher speaking to the troops. He asked them 'What would have happened if Mary and Joseph had just gone home? A manger would have been empty, three wise men would have searched in vain, shepherds would have doubted their visions, and the whole message would have been lost. Jesus would have been born, but the story would have been different. If they had just gone home, who knows what would have ensued.' And then he said 'As you think about home, who will be there to raise our standard when the bugle calls? Who will stand by your closest friend in battle? When General Washington calls forth our troops, who will fill out the lines? When we live another century at the hands of the king, who will we look to for relief?' And I stood there, with my thoughts in La Belle France but my heart in this country, weeping my new allegiance.

"For Jesus, he said, this night his home was in a stable, and ours this night was in our tents and in our comraderie and in our hearts. And thereafter, I never felt homeless nor homesick again.

"Bonne fête. Merci. Au revoir." (12/25/2004 - W#331)

Rikkity: "And another. The hits just keep on coming."

MW:

"Hello. Gracious servant.

"I am compelled to think of Mary this day. She was away from home. She had been up all night birthing her first. She had to deal with strangers and shepherds and angels, can you imagine... not to mention those Easterners. And what did she do. She pondered.

"In the midst of great celebrations, we so often don't take the time or space or energy to ponder. Mr. President, my husband, had an odd custom. After the winning of some battle, he would retreat from the celebration to his own solitude and ponder it all.

"I, too, at times, felt the criticisms of others when I would not or could not be sociable when I had need of my own counsel. It is very hard to hear the voices of the divine when one is cheering.

"Perhaps the best holiday would be one given half to contemplation before a half for celebration. I do not know, I must ponder that.

"I wish you well." (12/25/2004 - W#332)

Rikkity: "Now a surprise guest: Sanford McPooch... ARRRF. Arf... And now, our next... grrrrr... ok, say more. Woof woof. Done? Woof! Ok. And now, I give you a man long on tales."

MCP:

"Hello-a. I see-a you know-a my face-a. I tell you about two journeys. This is a real life fable.

"My cousin Vinny (Vincenzo), he goes on a trip to buy very fine fabric. He wants silk, so he travels east. And everywhere he goes, he asks 'Have you any silk to sell.' For months he hears 'no,' but then he hears 'yes,' and he buys many fine silks and he returns to Venezia with them and sells them and becomes moderately wealthy.

"And I travel also to the East, but do I ask for silk, no. I ask 'What do you have to trade?' So I get fabrics of mohair and cashmere, and trinkets of gold and jewels, and stories. So when I return, I have only a little silk, but I have riches beyond knowing.

"A journey with a known outcome is no journey!

"A holiday without a future is no holy day. If you treat all celebration as an answer, why celebrate. And if you can't sense the question in a holiday, why bother.

"I say-a too much-a. Ciao." (12/25/2004 - W#333)

Rikkity: "And now, numero 5... ARF... numero 6... f."

Papa:

"Hi, babe. I do keep some illustrious company. They say I'm one of the best, too, but I think they keep me around to be near her! I don't care.

"Every holiday, I think, should include an element of doing what you want--not just of the expected nor the traditional. So I'm going to the beach. But after all, isn't his name Sandy Claus. I may never change!

"So I go to walk and sun and smile and look at the hot spirits!" (12/25/2004 - W#334)

Rikkity: "So, from all of us on the other side, a Merry Christmas."

Ericka's Bench 1/15/2005

"And so, the didactic method proved less than convincing and all attempts were abandoned."

Announcer: "Thank you, Dr. Herb Meier. And with that, we bring to a close another session of Mindless Mind, and once again we invite you to join us again when we say 'Nevermind.' This is UTV. Later, a program on the problems of monogamy in the development of poly-faceted entities. Or, on Channel 2, Polka Party. And now, a special session of Ericka's Bench, with her pooch Sandy... ARRRF."

Rikkity: "Wow, did you hear Herb Meier. What a mindless twit. Welcome to S-Span, your cable company's eternal coverage of spirit--more than just 24/7. And welcome to my bench, but don't sit. Sandy has just painted it... great timing, dog... woof. But this time, we used latex--no fumes... grrrrr. Well, on with the show which is going to be a standing joke... hahahehehehe I slay myself... and my elf.

"Ok, let's say welcome to the shadow of the bench, VR. Don't! sit! Too late. It'll wash off."

VR:

"Hello. I was in Spain about the time you were in France... but that's another story.

"I was a mystic and medium and seer. And I spent all my life chasing the esoteric. And this much I learned and remembered: Whether I chased it or not, it was always there. But when I hunted it down, it was sometimes less than itself. Sometimes I would so impose my needs and understandings that it could not be itself. And sometimes I focused so narrowly, it could not be its full self. And sometimes I drove right by it without seeing because I was so focused elsewhere.

"There is so much talk about this or that path to enlightenment, and I now see that they all are good and bad. All it takes is a radical openness to what is. If your path opens your mind and spirit and heart, it will be as good as any. But if your path only opens you to your path, you will miss so much.

"Don't mistake the path for the journey, nor for the vista. Even as I honed my powers, I missed much because I was focusing on my powers and not on what they revealed. Just a warning. It's never about models, it's about content.

"And I've said enough. No, I haven't. But enough, and now I've said it." (1/15/2005 - W#335)

Rikkity: "She is so wicked. Wellll, yes and no. He/she was a man-woman. In which life? And now, an old friend who will go by the initials of TF. Shhhh... "

TF:

"Hello. Been a long time. I'm just a simple person but I do have something to say. How shall I put it... balance.

"When we focus too sharply, we lose balance. And balance is necessary for change, which is counterintuitive. One would think one would need a direction or a propensity for change, but the greatest change arises when we feel a sense of balance which makes us secure enough to risk. Change which is the result of crisis will breed more crisis. But change bred of continuity will be more sustained and sustaining.

"The atom which is slowly brought to excitation can change to new states. The atom brought to a new state of energy abruptly is unstable and likely to destroy itself.

"An ion seeks desperately to find union, and holds on so tenaciously that further combination is hard. Those that are balanced in themselves can find newly balanced combinations.

"Take a group of unstable people, and with a lot of work you can make them into a group but it will be a potentially explosive one. Get a group of together people, and they will create their own, very sustainable, group. Hint: When a group seems fractious, look at the members, not the group.

"Ok, the chicken is calling and I don't know why." (1/15/2005 - W#336)

Rikkity: "And now, here for a rare reappearance this soon, Marky."

Marky:

"Bonjour, madame. I come, as always, with a message of friendship. There is no group on this Earth which is without conflict. It is the spiritual nature of a planet of people learning to deal with their complexity.

"What causes problems often is that people decide to consider this basic human dilemma as a tribal or national success or failure. One's own version of stability is taken as successful triumph over the human condition, and others' modes as failures. So there is this competition to see oneself as ok and others as not. But we all are both. And our unchosen placement in this nation or that culture does not insure whether we succeed or fail.

"The great wise ones always knew that the truth exceeded any specific group. Groups emulate, groups embody, but groups do not create or possess. And wisdom is knowing this. Good people have died in the cause of bad ideas. But when was it not so. I go. Au revoir." (1/15/2005 - W#337)

Rikkity: "And now, he would like a gutteral with you... woog... ARF. He's sitting on it. Can he get up? Grrrr. He's up and there's no fur on the bench. Yay! So let's have our next guest sit down, MW."

MW:

"A gracious good day. I would not have come if I had to stand to talk with friends. G and his men can stand! But I prefer to sit. When one spends energy on standing, one has less for understanding. And I would understand, if I can. And so it is with so much else. If I am to be absorbed in standing at this point on that issue, I must spend energy taking that stand and so I have that much less to spend on understanding. One of the greatest gifts we can receive is an ability to be sustained by an idea without making it a stand.

"Now, I am not advocating for no values. What one knows as the truth of her being transcends stands. In fact, when a core value or ethic is known, one is freed to look openly on other choices, knowing the assurance of this as given. Only those things we uphold without a sense of their ultimate assurance need our standing up for them. Living a value without compromise is not the same as fighting for this stand or that.

"So I am glad I could sit, and I now rise and take leave. Goodbye." (1/15/2005 - W#338)

Rikkity: "And with the poor eyesight closing in, we bring this Bench to a close."

MCP: "Hey-a."

Rikkity: "Ok."

MCP:

"Ciao. I just wanted to say that travelers who are dying to see only one place miss many places. Ciao." (1/15/2005 - W#339)

Rikkity: "And so we go. For Sandy and me and all and others and them... but not him... we say 'See you.' "

"So, we wonder, are spirits preconditioned to their combinations, and is this what is meant by karma. Yes. Since not all spirits will combine with all other spirits to make a sustainable entity, then it follows that any given entity will only meaningfully combine with a limited number of other entities. But in an infinite universe, won't there be infinite entities in each finite subset. Duh, of course, but that doesn't negate the lack of meaningful connection to an infinite set of others. You are not going to get complex with just anybody. And so your path must lead, over lives, to those connections that are yours. And when you are moving in that path, it all becomes more evident–each life a sifting away of what is not essentially you.

"And, along the way, a few false tries at connecting... ouch, back to here. Remember, what we call life is disassembly for some from more complex realms. Not everyone gets here this time from less complexity. Some are here at this level over and over and over. But some also arrive back here because they tried to take a path not theirs.

"Some need to take one, and some others. There is not one path to fulfillment, but there is one path for you to fulfillment. Don't mistake the one truth for the other. Too many do that. 'I'm saved,' they yell, and assume it will be the same for everyone. Why do we think it's fine to have a diversity of reaction to foods and styles and vacation places, etc., and not for more ultimate things.

"Having everyone have the same religion or follow the same God would be like declaring we'll only have one ice cream flavor. And then the heretics would be Howard Johnson's and Baskin Robbins. Ponder that." (1/28/2005 - V#98)

"Nothing is ever seen at one glance. Nothing can be seen in first viewing. All things we see train us to see them, and that takes time... I guess. Ponder that.

"Just as ideas must shape the mind to hold them, and spirits must open the doors to their own apprehension--always a two-way street, the other and you opening each other." (2/12/2005 - I#76)

Papa:

"Hi, babe. What a time I've been having. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make ideas concrete. But for those without voices it is different. But we don't give them voices, but we teach them to communicate in common. In life they communicated only in limited ways with limited people, and we have to help them see universal possibilities. When you have held your inner self so closely, you have to learn to let it be communally known and appreciated. Big doses of fear there to be quelled.

"There is one fear greater than being misunderstood and that's being totally understood. At least with misunderstanding you can hide behind what is not understood, but in the naked noonday of openness there's no place to hide. And until you realize there is no reason to hide, there is fear! Remember, all of us here are sustainable entities so what we are is just fine. If we have warts, so to speak, they are part of our meaning. But to learn to not worry or fret over differences is a struggle. And for those whose lives were defined by differences it is deep learning.

"But I love it. Sometimes all I have to do is sit in a car and wait, so they know somebody loves them no matter what else happens. In a community, as they say, just showing up is more than half." (3/2/2005 - W#340)

Ericka's Bench 4/4/2005

Rikkity: "So, here's the scoop. We have three here... unless they leave. It's time, always time, so let's get started. Here's GW."

GW:

"Hello again. I am going to be nostalgic–back to the war days. Not my favorites, but I learned much in their passage.

"There was not a week that would pass that I would not read--in this newspaper or that--about the dire future. Had their words been true, we would all now be concerned with that duchess woman and not the Bush man. Accounts of our imminent defeat were abroad. And each new account brought pessimism to a new high... or should I say low.

"More than any military strategy, my strength was in keeping the focus on our dream, not on the predictions. Chicken Littles will always peep, but not every courageous visionary will speak. But they must!

"You have a chap over there that we knew well over here. He had been a clown in the royal circus. But now he is with you, and his works have sometimes included a preoccupation with the demise of the world. After all, as he says, in only 8 or 9 million years the sun will burn out, shouldn't we be worried. And in his humor, we are reminded there are always more possibilities than threats. We are people of solutions. We are creators. And we miss our mark when we fail our nature and give in to fear and skies falling.

"Just read the accounts of Halley's Comet and the fear it provoked about a century and a half ago. But you're still there. Guess it didn't destroy the Earth... but wait, my good friend wishes to pick up the tale." (4/4/2005 - W#341)

Marky:

"Bonjour. The greatest threat to any nation has never been weapons. But do you know what it is? Ok, stupidity. And there are many types of stupidity. One is the stupidity of arms and another is the stupidity of fear, but the worst is the stupidity of blindness to the potential for good.

"When any nation loses its focus on the good that is its future, it is being stupid. Enhancement is the name of the game! And preaching otherwise is stupid. It takes little mind to become afraid; it takes great mind to look beyond the fears. Which do you want to be, little brains or big brains. Your choice. And the trick is that your choice will decide your future, not the choices of others. Sure, times may get rough... but wait, my pal wants to pick up the tale." (4/4/2005 - W#342)

LD:

"Hello. Times are not always easy. And there are tough times which extend for too long, we think. But, in the total, there is a gradual growth toward the whole. Now, if I had only seen my work in terms of troubles, I would have become a sot or drowned myself. Think there is any honor in designing armor? No. But it paid the bills in tough times that allowed a smile and a bridge and an enigma. Had I become overcome by the threats of my age, I would have been famous once and dead too long. Instead, I have been dead once and famous too long... or not. Ok, too long.

"It is stupid, as he says, to let the times decide your mien. Have you no character? Will-o'-the-wisps blow with the wind, stupidheads do, too. The wise are never blown over or away by their times. So stay wise and don't be beguiled by stupidity dressed up in necessity's clothes. Necessity won't like it." (4/4/2005 - W#343)

Rikkity: "Ok, there the three are... and there they go.

"The pandemic of panic. Dire in the desert of hope. Ok, let's say you hear that a great rain is coming. You could spend energy telling everyone about it with dire threats. You could get people together to discuss how threatened they feel. But hey, maybe a dam or a pump or an ark would be better than panic.

"Focus on what you want because no one else will do that for you! And don't be stupid." (4/4/2005 - W#344)

"It's all about abundance versus scarcity. If you think scarce, then you get scared. But if you think abundance, you think abundantly, and all things become possible. Fear arises from not having a sense of the possibilities one wants.

"Scarce says, over and over, 'Yes, but,' while abundance says, over and over, 'Yes, and.' Big difference! Limited system versus infinite system. If, in anything you are doing, you come to an edge of either thought or action, beyond which you cannot perceive possibility, then you have a finite system. And the way to abundance is to repudiate, jettison, give up finite systems, knowing that the next step will be a seemingly infinite system which will eventually show its limits, until that mystical and magical day in the future and in the past and in the present when some portion of All finally senses its Allness and the fullness thereof.

"The only way to reach the whole, which is without limits, is to push the edges as we perceive them. Ok, enough." (4/8/2005 - I#77)

"Well then, it is not a matter of either scarcity nor abundance, as these two terms are used. It is about more. Why try to dismantle dualism with a dualism. I'm not going there... arf... and neither are you... rrr. Try to picture existence which is full--full of possibilities, and full of limitations until we are one with All. Yes, I'll take one with everything, thanks. Hot dog? Arrr? Why are you panting, Sandy... ppppss.

"The trick is not to see life as a choice between, but rather a choice within. All the resources are there--as well as the potential and the limits. Just like a house: If one focuses on the walls, one may never see the windows. Can't have great windows without walls.

"Often our perspective is driven more by what we fail to see than what we see. I am reminded of the person who sat before an empty bowl in hunger, not seeing the fruitful apple tree in the yard. In modern times, we have taken up the cause of problems, as if this were not a world of solutions.

"Hi. Now take what I said, and read the paragraphs backwards. It will all make sense!" (4/12/2005 - I#78)

"So the big question is: Will we remember this life. And the answer is no, and yes. Specifically, you remember what you have learned and remembered, but not the circumstances. It's the remembered part that counts, not the cause. And some snippets of specific experiences will be in dreams and déjà vu and the like. But do you get a full transcript? No, and who wants one.

"You will be drawn to the essentials without knowing why--in the fabric of being. Once something is truly part of you, you don't experience it as a choice or an option, but as an identity. So, take breathing. You do it and that's it, and when you forget to do it, goodbye. So, too, with spiritual underpinnings... but not spiritual underpants.

"If it weren't there, you'd find a way to discover it. Hey, maybe this is the way you discover what you knew before... hmmm... maybe this is not your first time around with this. Think it started just now? Nothing is ever lost. And in parallel realities, there is so much. So don't think past and future; think other--which is also the same as here. The other is the same. Puzzle that phrase." (4/17/2005 - V#99)

"So, on the subject of my prior discourse (as measured in your linearity), I meant you and this both generically and specifically. It happens to all, beyond first-timers: things of this level remembered, but needing rediscovery. Like, I mean those Dead Sea Scrolls--had to find them when the memories were retained. Somebody who was there at closure was finally back there to open. Continuities often masquerade as discoveries. Ponder that snootful.

"So, get it? If it is true without reference to time, it will reemerge. And one way of seeing it is memory." (4/21/2005 - V#100)

"Let's re-posit several things. Nothing which is is ever lost to the universe, or in the universe, or near the universe. And all things exist side by side without time. But lives flow through the web of All, taking snapshots as if of a trip, and supposing them to be a linearity. So history is a string of reports from people who took almost similar journeys through the infinite possibilities. And some noticed along the way something of value, which later they wanted to revisit, but since the before was another life journey, they can only visit it as discovery. And since everything is around forever, it is always possible to discover what has been known and lost... except for that one pink top I borrowed from her.

"See what I mean. And, in the world beyond time, sometimes we discover things out of sequence because sequence makes no sense without time. So, we discover x, but when we do, x means nothing. But we remember x because it was different because it meant nothing. Then later, the meaning catches up with x, and we remember x and put x together with its meaning and discover it all over again. Just ponder that until you go crazy." (4/22/2005 - V#101)

"So, have you got it yet, the concept of eternal being. Discoveries are just memories in an infinite universe. Everything has already been experienced, but some of it was experienced after now.

"In the complexity of existence, there are emergent patterns which point to universal understandings. And get this: Most of them are not contained in science nor theology.

"So, the truly wise seek not that which seems new, but that which seems inclusive, exhaustive, and universal--even when they seem to be moving counter-current to prevalent wisdom. I gave you pith." (4/25/2005 - V#102)

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